News

£7m loan to revive empty Burnley homes

PRIVATE landlords in Burnley will be given loans from a £7m pot to bring empty houses back into use.

Burnley Council hopes the money will bring 175 homes up to standard by the end of 2014.

Landlords will be able to borrow up to £20,000 per property to carry out repairs on eligible sites.

The money, available through the Empty Homes Cluster programme, can be spent on properties which have been empty for more than six months and require ‘substantial repair work’.

It will focus on homes which have been subject to anti-social behaviour such as vandalism and arson.

Coun Howard Baker, the council’s executive member for housing and environment, said: “The council is committed to doing what it can to bring empty houses back into use to help improve the borough’s housing stock and benefit local communities.

“We have a number of initiatives in place to achieve that, one of which is a landlord loan scheme which encourages private sector landlords to refurbish properties that need major work doing to them to make them habitable again.”

Clare Jackson, private sector housing manager at Burnley Council, added: “The council is working closely with landlords to improve the quality of private rented houses and bring empty properties back into use. That benefits them, the new tenants and neighbours alike.”

Ian Gregory, a landlord who has already used the scheme, said he was ‘extremely grateful’ for the council’s assistance.

He said: “This is an excellent scheme that I would recommend to anyone who needs help getting their property into a rentable condition. Being able to spread the payments over 10 years really softens the blow and allows you to get back on your feet again without taking one step forward and then two backwards."

Comments (2)

Interesting.. buy a house, probably in a poor state, keep it for a while perhaps let it deteriorate a bit more, get a cheap grant from the council to renovate it.. not bad eh?

I wonder how many will end up for sale through Coun. Baker's estate agency, Falcon & Foxglove?

The properties that are a genuine blight on these areas, the worst offenders, should be subject to a CPO.. no ifs or buts.. - their property, their responsibility.

Having first hand experience of living next to an empty property and speaking to others in the same situation in Burnley, it isn't very nice let me tell you.

As a side note, why hasn't the LET used an image of Burnley for this article?

Interesting.. buy a house, probably in a poor state, keep it for a while perhaps let it deteriorate a bit more, get a cheap grant from the council to renovate it.. not bad eh?
I wonder how many will end up for sale through Coun. Baker's estate agency, Falcon & Foxglove?
The properties that are a genuine blight on these areas, the worst offenders, should be subject to a CPO.. no ifs or buts.. - their property, their responsibility.
Having first hand experience of living next to an empty property and speaking to others in the same situation in Burnley, it isn't very nice let me tell you.
As a side note, why hasn't the LET used an image of Burnley for this article?Lancs_Lad

No doubt there are slum landlords in Bradford and Manchester who think Christmas has come again. They are no doubt looking for run down property in the area, ready to take full advantage, at our cost!

No doubt there are slum landlords in Bradford and Manchester who think Christmas has come again. They are no doubt looking for run down property in the area, ready to take full advantage, at our cost!DaveBurnley